Report: Jared Loughner not competent to stand trial

by Josh Gerstein - May. 25, 2011 12:10 PMPOLITICO.COM

Mental health experts have concluded that Jared Loughner -- the man accused of fatally shooting six people in January and gravely wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords -- is not competent to stand trial, CBS News reported Wednesday.

Loughner, 22, faces a competency hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns in Tucson. Burns must rule on whether Loughner is capable of understanding the charges against him and assisting in his defense.

CBS said it spoke with Justice Department sources who said Loughner "will almost certainly be declared mentally unfit for trial." The issue of Loughner's competence to stand trial is separate, as a legal matter, from any effort he and his defense attorneys may make to argue that he was insane at the time of the Jan. 8 shooting in a Safeway supermarket parking lot.

In court filings last week, prosecutors and defense attorneys said they did not plan to dispute the findings of a Bureau of Prisons psychologist and an independent psychiatrist who examined Loughner, who has been in custody since the shooting. The court papers suggested that the mental health experts agreed with each other about Loughner's mental state, but the documents did not specify their conclusion.

Several videos apparently made by Loughner have raised questions about his mental health. One appears to show him wearing plastic bags and burning an American flag. Another apparently was filmed as he walked through a community college he attended and rambled about whether teachers there were being paid with legitimate currency.

Loughner also may be at odds with his attorneys. Burns revealed recently that he had received two letters directly from Loughner discussing "attorney-client" issues.

If Loughner is deemed unfit for trial, he likely would be sent to a prison psychiatric facility for up to four months. After that, he would undergo another review of his mental state.

Loughner faces 49 felony counts in connection with the January shooting spree, which wounded Giffords (D-Ariz.) and killed U.S. District Court Judge John Roll, Giffords aide Gabriel Zimmerman and four others. Loughner has pleaded not guilty.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will seek the death penalty against Loughner. Evidence of mental illness on his part could influence prosecutors' decision on whether to ask for capital punishment. Mental problems also are considered a "mitigating factor" that, if he is convicted, could lead jurors to spare him the death penalty.

Loughner also may face state charges, but the federal government has exercised its authority to prosecute first in any case involving an attempted assassination of a member of Congress.